"The waterworks is seen to reduce water-borne diseases."
The people bid goodbye the old and dilapidated water system and say hello to the refurbished multimillion worth water system.
This after the Department of Agriculture’s Mindanao Rural Development Program (DA-MRDP) turned-over recently to the residents of Brgy. Tagabakid, Mati City in the Province of Davao Oriental the rehabilitated potable water system (PWS).
The water system is expected to reduce water borne and water related diseases as the leaky pipes and defective intake structure had major makeover. In the past years, there had been reported cases of severe diarrhea in the area alluded to the flawed waterworks.
Designed as level-2 potable water system or communal water system with 37 units of faucets, the newly repaired water system amounting P2.78 million will serve the 325 households and about 1,500 resident of the town.
The local government unit (LGU) of Tagabakid led the project implementation with its 50 percent share of the total project cost while the other half was shouldered by MRPD.
The LGU will also led the establishment of the Barangay Waterworks and Sanitation Association (BAWASA) which set up appropriate measures including the schedule of fees for the maintenance of the water system.
MRDP program director Lealyn A. Ramos said that the program will continue to partner with LGUs to establish accessible PWS to help improve economic activities in Mindanao.
She said that inaccessible clean and safe water is a widespread problem in Mindanao which affects the economic activities of the rural areas as fetching water, whose safety is uncertain, consumes most of the productive time.
MRDP has earmarked over P2 billion for rural infrastructure for 2010 including provisions for PWS.
“Although this (infrastructure) is a costly investment, we have a frontload of infrastructure projects like roads, bridges, water system and posthavest facilities since this is the foundation for agriculture to grow. And as we know agriculture is the backbone of the country’s economy,” Ramos said.
Jointly funded by the World Bank, the national government and the 225 local governments of Mindanao, MRDP aims to reduce poverty, improve incomes and reinforce the decentralization mandate of the Local Government Code and the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act.
